


Tomorrow Might be Good for Something

by social_reject



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-22
Updated: 2015-09-22
Packaged: 2018-04-22 19:54:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4848356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/social_reject/pseuds/social_reject
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“And what of A3?” Janson inquired, their voices now passing the door.<br/>“We just collected him, he’s being prepped,” was the last thing Ashton could hear before the voices became too distant.<br/>Ashton turned his back on the door, his hands finding their way into his curls once more. He had a very strong feeling that the collected A3 was his Luke. A shutter of terror rippled through him, what exactly was Luke being prepped for? Memory restoration? Harvesting? The anxiety of not knowing gnawed at Ashton, his stomach turning and gripping, endless aches reaching for every part of his being.<br/>Or, A Scorch Trials AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tomorrow Might be Good for Something

**Author's Note:**

> This was just a thought after coming out of The Scorch Trials, then it was a drabble, now it's this. I don't own either The Maze Runner series or 5sos (much to my dismay). This is mainly referenced from the movie cause I just saw it and haven't read the books in ages.The title is from the Matchbox 20 song, "Unwell", it's not super related to the plot, but does make sense in a way. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!!!

Ashton had a singular care as he was being dragged away. He didn’t care that his hands were bound or that there were iron like holds on his upper arms, he didn’t care that his feet were dragging heavily beneath him. All he cared about was what he was being dragged away from. With every sudden jerk of movement from his restrainers, his reason for caring became more and more distant. He was being dragged away from his only sliver of hope in a world infested by the flare, his only memory before entering the maze, the only reason he was so determined to beat WCKD; Luke.

He screamed out for him but knew it would do no good, there was nothing he could physically do without getting them both killed, or worse, only Luke. Ashton couldn’t stomach the thought of living in a world without Luke. Upon entering the maze he had quickly become his solace, his voice of reasoning, the rationale behind his bold actions. He’d become much of his everything. And with nothing to do without the guns going off, Ashton watched as Luke was ushered away, surrounded by a trio of armed guards. The distance between them leaving an even bigger space for ache in his palpitating heart.

Down the narrow hallway they went, automatic lights beaming to life as he was pulled away, his fight fleeing from him, his limbs hanging loosely in the guard’s grips. They unbound his hands as they neared his door. As they threw him into his bunker, he swore to himself that he would find his way out, and as the door shut, he promised Luke would be by his side, the words falling into the dead air. He slammed his clenched fists into the metal door, the bang echoing around the mostly empty bunker. He didn’t know where his anger was directed in the heat of the moment, if it was at WCKD for all they had previously done or if it was exclusively at Janson for giving them all false hope.

“We’ll find them,” a voice interrupted his outburst of anger, the desperation in the three words reaching Ashton’s core.

He turned slowly to face his cell mate, the bunkers now nothing but a prison to him. The boy’s face held more hope than he’d seen since entering the facility. The boy moved from his hunched over positon on one of the back beds to stand in front of a still fuming Ashton. He placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, his eyes holding the rawest honesty Ashton had ever come across, other than Luke.

“I know we can find them,” the boy repeated, his warm brown eyes downcast, as if more assuring himself than Ashton at this point. And he must have believed it himself, or Ashton probably would have exploded from more false promises. “And I know we can get out.”

With shaking hands Ashton moved the comforting hand from off his shoulder and walked past him, content to pace the small space that the cell provided. Only questions bombarded his tangled thoughts, his vision almost red as his anger hit a boiling point and then subsided as quickly as it had bubbled. He collapsed to the floor in a heap, his new clean clothes surely printed with dust and dirt from the filthy ground.

“We _have_ to get out. We _have_ to get out. We _have_ to get out,” Ashton repeated, his mantra becoming more violent with each turn. The words were nothing but snarls after a few more repetitions.

Finally he pulled his knees up to his chest, resting his head on them, his hands gripping his now uniform curls. WCKD hadn’t just cleaned them up, they’d primped them, they’d _readied_ them. Chancellor Paige’s words knocked around his mind for a moment, one in particular sending chills down his spine. _Harvesting._ They were just conditioning their bodies for harvesting. That’s all they ever were to them; bodies. Bodies that miraculously were immune, bodies that they thought they could use to find a cure.

His cell mate eventually joined him on the floor, Ashton having pushed his presence out of his mind. He was startled out of his reverie as his cell mate sighed, “We’re going to find Michael and Luke and we’re going to get out of here. But you need to stay present. I need you to. They need you to. _Luke_ needs you, Ashton.”

Ashton whipped around to face his cell mate, his blood rushing to his face as he realized how much this boy knew of him and how embarrassingly little Ashton knew about him, “Who are you?”

“My name’s Calum. I was in group B. And so was Michael,” the boy explained.

“How do you know so much about me?” Ashton followed up.

“You made quite the impression in the cafeteria the other day. There’s been nonstop talk about you since, I haven’t known what to believe except that you get things done.”

Ashton thought back to his first day in the cafeteria, he’d demanded to know where the other gladers were being taken, he’d gone so far as to get physical with the guards that had prohibited him from investigation. Luke had pulled him back of course, his voice lulling his anger, his words reassuring him. He needed Luke, maybe even more than Luke needed him, and that terrified him.

“We’re going to get out,” Ashton promised, his words carrying an impossible amount of weight behind them. _“Tonight.”_

 “I have just the thing,” Calum replied, a vindictive smile lighting up his usually soft features. In the harsh fluorescent lighting Ashton could see all traces of innocence and desperation gone, washed away by mischievousness and determination.

“What?” Ashton questioned, Calum lacking the elaboration Ashton was hoping would come immediately after.

Calum hushed him, a finger placed over his lips in gesture for Ashton to be quiet. Outside their cell Ashton could just pick up the sounds of approaching footsteps, high heels clicking on the cement floor. Faint voices grew nearer, Ashton’s heart thudding as explanations began to fit themselves together.

“The memory transfer is complete. B7 now has his memories of the outside world restored,” a foreign voice informed. Ashton scooted to the door, pressing his ear up against the metal to get a better listen, Calum following suit.

“Excellent,” this time Ashton immediately recognized the voice, the way the words were said, like metal scraped against metal.

“Janson,” Ashton whispered through a breath, Calum’s eyes widening in understanding.

Just the name alone was enough to strike fear into the other boy, Ashton could see his muscles tensing, his jaw setting, his eyes widening with panic. Ashton shook his head back and forth, needing Calum to read into the motion and stay calm. Calum took a deep breath and collected himself before he went back to listening.

“And what of A3?” Janson inquired, their voices now passing the door.

“We just collected him, he’s being prepped,” was the last thing Ashton could hear before the voices became too distant.

Ashton turned his back on the door, his hands finding their way into his curls once more. He had a very strong feeling that the collected A3 was his Luke. A shutter of terror rippled through him, what exactly was Luke being prepped for? Memory restoration? Harvesting? The anxiety of not knowing gnawed at Ashton, his stomach turning and gripping, endless aches reaching for every part of his being.

“We’ve got to get to them before- well before whatever it is they’re planning happens,” Ashton whispered urgently, his tone frantic as he stood, pulling Calum up immediately with him.

“Good thing I have this,” Calum said and reached into his pants waist band and pulling out an ID Access card. Ashton grinned from ear to ear, that mischievous smirk back on Calum’s face.

“Let’s go,” Ashton said, the two words setting the boys into motion.

Calum seemed to know the ins and the outs of the place, he’d been there a few days more than Ashton, giving him extra time to scope out the exits. They had to crawl through an air vent, trying to be as soundless as possible, checking in every vent to see if Michael and Luke were in the connecting room. Calum stopped short at around the seventh vent they came across, Ashton hurried up to his side.

“There he is,” Calum said, his words clipped and tight. Ashton could feel the sadness radiating off the boy.

He understood the sadness upon seeing Michael, his body looking frail in a hospital bed, tubes keeping the breath in his body. Bruises lined his face, a jagged stain of purple on his jaw, a faded yellowish up near his temple. Ashton wondered how it had happened but didn’t need to say the words, Calum already had a one worded answer ready for him.

“Greivers.”

Ashton remembered his own battle with the greivers to get out of the maze. The most important thing at the time had been making sure Luke had gotten out with him, that he hadn’t been harmed or taken away from him. Now, here he was with Calum trying to get back to him. He would have given anything to go back to the seeming simplicity of the glade, yearned for a day to day routine where he lived in oblivion, his memories faded, but Luke ever present.

“How do we get to him?” Ashton whispered.

Before Calum could answer approaching noise had them pressing back against the vent walls to go unseen. A gurney was rolled in, a blanket covered body laying dejectedly, screens lighting up the first half of the mechanized bed. The bed was rolled into the spot directly next to Michael, the screen flashing a black A3 on the white background, Ashton’s heart thumped knowingly. The ‘doctors’ in their pretentious lab coats hefted the blanket off the body, Luke’s battered face coming into view.

Luke lay there, his skin milky white, a horizontal scratch claiming half of his left cheek, marring his otherwise perfect complexion. Bruises riddled his arms, blacks, blues, yellows and purples painting a haunting image of pain. Ashton had to stop himself from physically reaching out for Luke, clasping his hands together to combat the urge. The doctors seemed to fiddle around for a moment, connecting tubes and wires to Luke. Once they were satisfied they opened the door with their ID cards and closed it, the automated locks clicking into place.

“Now?” Calum suggested in a hushed whisper.

Ashton nodded his consent as they worked at unlatching the vent. Once it was removed Calum hoisted himself down, his upper arm strength proving useful as he dangled for a moment and made a silent drop. Ashton followed quickly after, immediately moving to Luke’s side, Calum fleeing to Michael. For a moment Ashton couldn’t speak, the lump in his throat tightening, tears threatening to spill over as he looked at Luke. Calum was now waking Michael, shaking him slightly to pull him from his slumber.

“Lukey, you have to wake up beautiful,” Ashton whispered, running a hand through his hair.

Momentarily Ashton was brought back to the times in the glade, how he would always wake up before Luke; their coveted spots in the soft grass having a perfect view of the homestead. Ashton would always turn over and run his fingers through Luke’s hair, whispering soft words to him to lull Luke’s usual grumpy morning demeanor.

Luke groaned, his blue eyes opening slowly, Ashton could see he was still foggy from whatever they had used to put him under, but had to wake him further, “Come on, Luke, you have to wake up.”

“What’s going on?” He grumbled, rubbing at his eyes, Ashton reached for Luke’s hand automatically, entwining their fingers.

“We have to go,” Ashton explained, trying to keep the panic out of his voice. The last thing he wanted to do was to alarm Luke and set him into a state of panic. “These people aren’t who we thought they were. They’re dangerous, Lukey. We have to get out of here.”

Luke had half risen from his laying position, his weight supported on his elbows. He arched a tired eyebrow at Ashton in question but noted the sincerity of the words and began to rise. Calum and Michael came into Ashton’s line of vision, they were already waiting at the door for them.

“Then who are they?” Luke asked as he ripped out the last of the medical equipment.

“WCKD,” Ashton answered, Luke immediately having wide eyes as his feet hit the floor.

“There’ll be time for more explanation later, we have to move,” Calum interrupted what Ashton was about to say. “They probably know we’ve left the room by now.”

Luke didn’t question anymore but Ashton knew if they got out of it alive, he would have a slew of them. Calum activated the ID card, the locks on the doors turning green with validation, the door springing from its locked hinges. In the exact moment that the door sprang free, a demeaning alarm pierced through the compound, lights flashing in every corner of the hallways as the noise kept on. They didn’t hesitate in making a run for it, knowing full well that the alarms were about them.

They rounded corners and ran through hallways, commotion always following them. They didn’t have time to warn the other gladers, they just had to set an example and escape. Ashton kept a tight hold on Luke’s hand, not apt to let go as they scrambled through the sterile hallways. Calum and Michael led the way but stopped suddenly, Ashton and Luke colliding into their backs and then realizing that a guard stood in their way, gun poised for the stun.

In one swift movement Michael had the guard knocked down, the gun thrown across the floor, emitting a spark of electricity at the wall. Calum swooped in and grabbed for the gun, aiming it at the guard in a silent threat. The guard cowered away, hands lifted in surrender, Ashton and Luke passing him quickly. Once again the four were off, sprinting down the hallway, the only known exit coming into sight.

“Get the ID card,” Ashton reminded Calum who fumbled into his pocket to take it out.

Luke’s grip on Ashton’s hand tightened as they stopped at the door, Calum trying a few times to emit the green light for the door to open. Ashton could feel Luke’s anxiety as footsteps neared, the alarms still blaring. Finally, after a few more attempts, the door sprang free, the boys not hesitating to take off into the scorch. Wind blew sand into the air, attacking their faces, their noses, their eyes, and every other part of their body that was uncovered.

They ran uphill for what seemed like hours, the chase never ending as WCKD brought out vehicles to scour the scorch for them. Luckily, Luke had spotted an abandoned compound where they took refuge, and started to make a game plan. Luke was leaning heavily into Ashton, his eyes droopy from the exertion after the rude awakening.

“Why don’t you rest?” Ashton suggested to Luke who shook his head and rubbed at his eyes.

“I’m fine,” he insisted stubbornly, but Ashton could see past the words.

Dark circles claimed under Luke’s beautiful blue eyes, his motions were sluggish comparatively. Ashton knew his boy needed to rest but also knew there would be no convincing him.

“Why don’t we all rest? This seems like a safe place for the meantime?” Ashton then tried, knowing that if he were to lay down, Luke would as well.

“Tomorrow we can head for the mountains,” Michael confirmed as he sprawled heavily against Calum, already content to close his eyes in hopes of getting some sleep. Calum automatically adjusting himself to wrap around Michael.

“Ash, can we-“ Luke began, not sure how to word whatever was on his mind but motioned away from Michael and Calum.

Ashton nodded and followed out a tired Luke, they didn’t stray too far, only moving out of immediate ear shot for normal conversation. Luke sat, his back against a filthy wall. Ashton joined him on the ground, wrapping his arm around Luke, Luke then resting his head on Ashton’s shoulder.

“I don’t want to sleep, Ash,” Luke said just above a whisper, tears brimming and threatening to slide down his pale cheeks.

Ashton stayed silent but scooted impossibly closer to Luke, knowing his boy would open up on his own accord. Ashton was never one to push and Luke was never one to need a push. Their communication always came naturally, that’s one of the biggest things Ashton so loved about Luke. Luke had a zest for life, was open and free, a smile rarely not on his face. Except in the morning when it was grumpy time.

“I just keep seeing it, over and over, it keeps replaying in my mind. And when I sleep I can’t escape it,” Luke explained shakily, wiping at his tears as if he were ashamed.

Ashton grabbed for Luke’s hand, his hand enveloping the younger boys easily, “I know Lukey, it happens to me too. The greivers were monsters, but we’ve got more demons to fight. We have to stay strong for each other. We’re going to get through this together.”

“You promise?” Luke asked, exhaling jaggedly.

“I promise,” Ashton began. “I promise that we will have each other to pull strength from. I promise that I would never willingly leave your side. I promise that you are the most important thing in my life and no matter what, you will be the first and last thing I’ll always fight for.”

Ashton couldn’t promise what the future would bring, but they would take it day by day, tomorrow always good for something more than today. Luke smiled, pressed a kiss to Ashton’s cheek, and took comfort from the words.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos?  
> [Tumblr!!!](lashtonsillusion.tumblr.com)


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